Scuffing is a very complex process, without a clear understanding of the fundamental causes behind its
occurrence. It is clear that there are many factors that affect this process, but it is only through obtaining an in-depth
understanding of the actual conditions (i.e. chemical, topographical, mechanical, and microstructural analyses), that
a fundamental cause can be determined. Most prior research has focused on examination of subsurface changes at
the micron level. Recent findings suggest that the most significant changes occur in the top 50 – 100 nm of the
surface, not at the micron level as previously suggested. The goal of this project is to substantiate this claim that the
most significant changes occur in the top 50 – 100 nm, and to quantify the changes in material properties at this
level. Microstructural analysis and nano-mechanical methods of determining thin film material properties are used
to accomplish these goals.
The nano-mechanical methods that will be used in this work are nano-indentation and nano-scratch
techniques. These methods are routinely used in such applications as semi-conductors and magnetic storage hard
disk drives. Applying these methods to engineering surfaces is anticipated to be somewhat difficult (and thus, the
lack of published works in this area), due to significant roughness, non-homogeneous surfaces and inconsistent
layers of unknown and non-uniform thicknesses. Through careful examination and analysis of individual data, it is
shown that these methods can in fact be applied to engineering surfaces.

Issue Date:

2001-12

Publisher:

Air Conditioning and Refrigeration Center. College of Engineering. University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.